Lets hear your funny fish stories!

[gimme301]

Dogs and cats get all the attention with their crazy antics but our little aquatic drama queens can be pretty funny too. So, the recent thread on newts got me thinking about axolotols, and one that I kept that was the Rodney Dangerfield of the sea.
I caught him at a lake I used to fish at, and since I had a large unheated tank running I brought him home and plopped him in. At the time you could get live tubifex worms, which you fed to your fish with a plastic cone-shaped gadget that attached with a suction cup to the glass. He would immediately swim up and park himself right on top of it, and 'bark' at any fish that came near, in-between trying to eat it all first before they could get any.
When the LFS was out of tubifex I'd stick dried cubes to the glass, and he'd suck the whole thing off. He looked pretty funny trying to choke it down, chomping away in a cloud of worms. Not sure much of it made its way to his stomach.
He was also an accomplished escape artist with a newt fetish. I don't know how many times I came home to find him in the newt tank that was right next to his glass box. Maybe they were trying to finish their long running game of pinochle.

Unfortunately he met a tragic end. I came home to find him on the floor with his little 'hands' in an outlet, fried to a crisp, with a newt on his back. I can only surmise he liberated his buddy to go on a walkabout and the outlet looked like a good steppingstone for the return trip.

A common oscar I'd had forever had the habit of trying to eat my finger when he was fed by hand and would swim around with his mouth open in this big O shape for a while after that looked hilarious. He was a character for sure.

What whacky things have you seen your fish do?

 

[Jennet25 83]

When I was in my teens I had a boyfriend who had a very large fish pond in their garden. There was a carp in there that would happily come and take fish pellets from your fingers very delicately indeed. He also would turn on his side to show that he wanted you to 'tickle' him with your fingers. He/she was a wonderful fish and we spent many a minute or ten each time we went into the garden.

 

[Back in the fold2]

I used to take care of my Dad’s aquarium with Oscars that he had . It was always a contest to see whether they’d bite me or not when I was gravel vaccing . One was a biter but the other two usually just watched . It scared me and I never did get used to it . I finally figured out that if I maintained eye contact with him he’d stay back but avert my eyes for even a second and he’d charge me . I could swear he was smiling too .

 

[Fishmanic45 161]

My Betta finds these stories hillarious.

 

[gimme301]

Lol that's one happy fish! He looks like he just got away with something.

 

[GaryE6 4]

Clearly, AI makes for happy fish.

I had a Rivulus killifish species that overpopulated their tank, as they bred regularly and didn't eat their young (so rude). I kept the water clean, but the tank usually looked kind of empty. I always had to be careful when I did a water change, because sometimes none of them would be in the water. I'd find dozens of fish hanging off the silicone above the water in their tank, which I kept half filled. They'd just happily hang there, as fish with clear ambitions to become amphibians.

 

[Innesfan44 6]

I had a Rivulus killifish species that overpopulated their tank, as they bred regularly and didn't eat their young (so rude). I kept the water clean, but the tank usually looked kind of empty. I always had to be careful when I did a water change, because sometimes none of them would be in the water. I'd find dozens of fish hanging off the silicone above the water in their tank, which I kept half filled. They'd just happily hang there, as fish with clear ambitions to become amphibians.

I forget who initially reported the following story so cannot provide the appropriate credit.

A veteran killie-keeper visited the legendary Rosario LaCorte at his fish rooms in NJ, one of which was in his leaky basement. There were several shallow puddles of water no more than an inch deep and most were less. The visitor noticed there was life in the puddles and commented on it to Rosario, who replied, "They're Rivulus. And they really like it there so I leave 'em alone."